Work Text:
It’s funny how you can feel the world’s collapse over the span of a single night, and then the next day is just the festival. To everyone else, last night was only a Saturday night. It must’ve been a pretty killer one, too, as the second most fun night of the year in Hometown — with the first being the night of the festival itself, of course. The rest of these kids have no burdens, no prophecies to challenge, no close friends to leave behind. Just an outfit to plan the night before… some allowance to earn, with wild dreams of winning the biggest prizes. The lucky bastards!
Now, Susie is plenty used to her voice going unheard. She’s learned this lesson already, after a lifetime of practically begging for help with no answer. It’s easier to just brute force it. Usually. This, though? This question should have an answer as clear as day. What.. the fuck.. is even happening? With Officer Undyne missing, and Toriel acting like the church wasn’t overthrown by absolute darkness.. Susie questions why she, as the biggest problem in town, has to be the one to get a handle on the situation. She didn’t even want to go to the festival two days ago. With Kris and Noelle out of the picture, she has to be the one to keep the ground from collapsing beneath everyone’s feet. So, as expected, when the going gets tough, her friends just slack on their ends of the workload.
A conclusion was never met for the night before. The kids were in desperate need of solace, answers, security… but the world just kept turning in their absence, a cruel reward for all the work they put in keeping the planet in one piece. The evening of the Cyber City battle kicked ass, and Susie knows that no matter how hopeless things feel, waking up next to Kris could offer clarity where that perspective is needed. If she couldn’t stay by Ralsei’s side all night, she could stay by Kris’ at the very least, and that was good enough. The sleepover was regrettably cut short, and she only caught a glimpse of Kris’ slumped silhouette as she stepped back into the darkness, leaving them to clean up the mess all on their own.
Through the windows, Susie saw the light in their room quickly go out.
And there hasn’t been a word from them since.
Typical Kris, chickening out the moment the pressure’s too real. Who do they think they are, leaving Susie to fend for herself after everything that happened in the sanctuary? With Kris in radio silence, and Noelle grounded, and Ralsei in Castle Town, now Susie is all out of festival dates. It’s like a cruel prank, yet another hoot in the face of Susie’s naive optimism. How foolish of her to believe she could celebrate the most vibrant night of the year, with the other kids no less.
Oh well. It may be for the best that Susie’s reality is reinforced to her. Nobody can be saved, and she will never be in control of her own destiny. That’s how Susie lived life prior to all this Dark World nonsense, and it was much easier that way, right? — try all you want, you’re still gonna end up alone in an unfamiliar place in the end. What’s the point of trying, then?
While Susie sits on the idea of letting fate toss her around with its grubby hands, she takes a merciless bite out of a rock hard Pop-Tart. There’s crumbs at the bottom of the Pop-Tart box which she forages, dumping those down her gullet too. It’s nine in the morning. She hasn’t slept a wink. This is her favorite time to eat breakfast, because her dad hasn’t woken up yet. It’ll be a couple more hours until he does, so she’s got some more room for shenanigans before returning to the power nap dimension.
She saunters over to the pantry and scavenges for more food, no hint of revulsion in her face when she’s blasted with the scent of rot. Lucky for her, she’s got a bag stowed away in a corner separate from the festering mold. Sometimes when she’s extra hungry, the mold poses as a fair option — don’t get it twisted, she’s eaten mold! But she was spoiled so eagerly by Toriel with her yummy baked cuisine not even twenty-four hours ago, and now mold isn’t as appetizing as it once was. Now, she could settle for the next best thing, which appears to be…
She rips open the bag. A half-empty single-serve bag of gingersnaps.
. . . . .
The girl wolfs down the remainder of the bag in seconds, and stares absently at the wall.
. . . . .
Man, fuck it. She needs to try and find Noelle.
The lizard girl is rarely found roaming around Hometown — especially without an intended purpose. So when she does come out, it feels like a public humiliation ritual. Ironically, this area is hailed as one of the happiest regions of the Northeast. Susie finds it hard to believe that, as it’s impeccably easy to flip everyone’s smiles back into a frown just by having the nerve to walk by. This collective disgust didn’t change with Kris by her side, but at least she had the choice of defending Kris as opposed to herself. Today, it’s especially hard to avoid her fellow neighbors — basically everybody is outside. With every passing hour, the town is slowly whipped into shape, with Noelle’s mom running festival prep like they’re all going to war. There’s an exhilarating element of danger knowing that Susie could run into her at any moment as long as she’s out in public. Maybe this time she can spit in her face too.
Evidently, she can’t go to Noelle’s house. There’s one easy way to make Ms. Holiday issue a peace order. She can’t ask for Kris’ help either, with them being totally MIA.
That narrows her options, but not all hope is lost. There’s still one option left, the only other classmate who is, by any means, in the know, and yields the gift of self importance predictable enough to assume he’s working the morning of the festival. He cannot lie to her, he does have Noelle’s phone number, and even if Noelle’s mom monitors her phone activity, getting a call from Berdly’s phone would be nothing short of the usual. Susie scopes out the area, cautious. Getting caught entering the library on a Sunday morning will make her the talk of the town for weeks. Oh well, there’s no use entertaining that, she shrugs the thought away and kicks the door open.
”Awright, Berdly, I know you’re in here—“
A familiar squeak sounds, much unlike the aggravating squawk of a startled Berdly. Could that be..?
“Noelle?????”
”Susie???????” A pile of books slip out of Noelle’s arms with a resounding thud. “Wha— you’re at the library? On a Sunday????” She lets out a single hah in disbelief.
”Man, who asked you!” Susie releases a sigh she must’ve been holding for hours at this point, unclenching her fists as she relaxes. “I was hoping I’d see Berdly, cause— then I could call you on his phone.” She coughs. “…You know, to make sure you’re… fine.”
Susie closes the distance between the two, expression softening as she approaches the other. Noelle’s smile wobbles, uncertain, but she doesn’t back away as the other begins speaking. “Why are you here? Figured you were grounded.”
”Yeah… well!” Noelle crouches down, picking the textbook up off the carpet. “We had so much fun yesterday, I really couldn’t take being alone all weekend. So I convinced my mom to let me work on my project at the library, y’know, maybe with Berdly if he comes around. She kinda let me, and I convinced her because… well, it’s like the one place you definitely wouldn’t be, don’t you think?” Noelle giggles, but Susie makes a mental note of her obviously stifling it. The deer girl is definitely not comfortable being heard right now.
”Wooooow, maybe I just wanted to play Flash games in the computer lab, has she ever considered that?” She crosses her arms, face falling into a pout when Noelle giggles at her. “But… like… that’s sort of why I’m here too…” Her demeanor softens.
It’s true, the past two days have been the absolute best of Susie’s life, and it never occurred to her before that she could have experiences like this. Silly as it is, for the first time ever, she’s experienced that foreign sense of closeness she only ever witnessed from the outskirts. Staying over Kris’ house for a night was the mysterious feeling she’s been chasing after for years, true and honest delight that is regularly denied to her. She didn’t even need to have fun at someone else’s expense! Even those couple of hours in Noelle’s house – the stakes were high, and she was scared – for Noelle, mostly. But, at least, she finally had support when things got hairy. And she’ll do anything to fulfill that void, the hollow feeling in her chest that’s reared its ugly head yet again. It was nice while it lasted, but does it really have to end here?
“That’s… so sweet of you, Susie, thank you for looking out for me.” The pink tint of Noelle’s cheeks does not cease, but like always, her expression cannot be easily read. There’s a smile, so Susie must have said something right, but her gaze is empty, too. “But I’m.. sorry. I need to.. um. Get to work. Before the festival. I hope you have fun…!” She whips around as if in a rush.
“Wha – wait! Noelle!” A clawed hand goes for Noelle’s dress collar, and an unholy noise escapes her as her body goes limp. Noelle’s horrified but equally interested expression throws off her judgment. “Noelle — so. The festival is still happening? Yes?”
Awfully vague question, but no way she can articulate beyond THAT. For starters, her reason for asking is just embarrassing. But also, Noelle obviously can’t go with her. She’s already got one foot in the grave all due to Susie’s dumbassery and she will certainly be six feet under by the time they’re seen in public together. The stupid mayor might even be peeved enough to call the whole thing off, which would be just great, cause Susie would catch all the blame.
“...Ya don’t see all the empty concession stands around town? Faha…” Noelle lets out a half-hearted laugh, one hand preemptively placed on the door.
“Cool, so I DIDN’T goof it all up yesterday!” Susie still has not hit the point she’s attempting to make. “I mean.”
“I kinda, just. Like, Kris hasn’t been talking to me at all. You think they’re mad at me or something? Guess it’s a real Susie move to fuck up all my festival date options in the same week I even got ‘em. I’m like, speedrun any percent-ing that shit, right?”
The conversation has officially entered uncharted waters, Susie reels it back into familiar territory by trying at a couple punchlines. Maybe Noelle will just forget she asked anything.
“Kris?” Noelle looks at nothing on the wall. “They usually don’t even.. go, not for the past few years. I just, don’t think I can. My mom has eyes all over town. She’s only across the street, and she knows I’m here. I’m sorry–”
“Nah it’s – it’s fine. I was mostly just makin’ sure you’re okay. Working on that project shit’s probably important, I’m personally gonna save it for a week after the deadline.” Susie leans against a desk at a respectable distance from Noelle – well, at least she got an answer to the Noelle question. As tragic as it may be. The past couple days have fundamentally changed Susie, but maybe she just dreamt that all up. Sure. Noelle thought it was all a dream, anyways. Maybe Susie can convince herself the same?
“Cool, so.” A defeated Susie presses her knee to the door, turned away from the other. “Seeya.”
She storms out of the building, not even leaving a second for Noelle to respond.
But she only makes it about twenty feet before the feeling of.. claws? Fingers? No, hooves latch onto her back. She hears a muffled voice and notices a suspiciously antler-shaped form protruding from the back of her jacket. Noelle does not elaborate and Susie does not even question.
“I’m– I’m not here! Go home! Hide me hide me!!” Her muffled quiet-yells vibrate against the purple girl’s back, and Susie frantically follows suit. Ahhh, all those years of binging public TV finally pay off — she is sufficiently prepared for the famous two-kids-in-a-trenchcoat-trick! Piece of cake. Susie pulls Noelle’s legs into a piggyback position to effectively obscure her body under the taller one’s jacket. Susie is psyched, albeit terrified– “Uhhhh. OKAY! Let’s go, secret set of legs!” She books it, and Noelle’s legs wave in the wind daintily. It’s incredibly funny — and cute — and Noelle’s giggling the whole way there. Which would be just fine, if Susie had more than a couple seconds to think of their next line of action.
Goddammit Kris, if you don’t PICK UP YOUR PHONE ALREADY AND LET US GO TO YOUR HOUSE.
The amorphous form of two girls pull up to the easternmost point of town. Susie groans, staring down the doorway to her apartment building with visible contempt. Maybe Ralsei had a point about the barren bedroom, it’s pretty humbling to be living like that. And even more humbling to try and explain it.
“Can’t we just hang at the lake or something… I can dunk you in the water if I hear your mom,” She whispers with high hopes, wincing to herself. “Or fucking like… ICE-E’s? I don’t know, anywhere else?”
“I mean, we’re already here. Why?” Noelle asks expectantly.
“It’s just no fun, like, I’d rather spend the day throwing rocks at the lake with you! I dunno! We could’a stayed at the computer lab, you could study and I could play Plants vs Zombies on the computer.”
“But the— but the festival, I can’t..” Noelle whines, hooves clattering against the pavement impatiently. “Can we just go in..? I wanna see..”
“Ugh but we can’t just – go through the – god fucking dammit!” Susie curses to herself as cloven hands anxiously tug her shirt harder, which forces her to push her own grievances aside. She huffs, then states simply: “Here. Hold onto your dress.”
With no further questions, Susie hoists Noelle up by the legs and tosses her at a second story window. “Just trust me!” Noelle screams and shakily holds onto the window sill as she dangles her legs around like a helpless insect. Susie pushes herself onto the lower level window and bounces off by the soles of her sneakers, leaving the other utterly aghast.
“How do we even – we can’t open the window from out here–!” Noelle frets, anxiety quelled the moment she actually looks in front of her. The window has a preestablished person-sized hole in it. “Oh. Of course.”
With Noelle’s dainty frame, Susie is able to lightly tap her through the hole in the window, careful not to let any glass make contact. She effortlessly lands on the twin-sized bed with a concerning creak, disheveled but otherwise unharmed. Smooth one, Susie, always making the most out of an unforeseen situation. Susie snickers to herself in delight, then issuing a warning before hopping through. “Careful. Scoot to the footboard. There’s bouta be glass.”
Noelle quickly does as asked, and Susie barrels through the window with zero regard for her own safety. The glass shears through her at every angle, but she’s still got that dumbass grin on her face, snarkily flashing a full-toothed grin at the other girl.
“That.. was NUTS! Do I need to find you bandaids?? Or maybe gauze bandages? Oh, dear…” She extends a hand, but Susie waves her off.
“Nah. Scales. They’re tougher than mammal skin, remember? I’m good.” She proves this by plucking all the insignificantly sized shards out of her scales, which Noelle watches with great interest. The rest of the glass is hastily swiped off the bed, and Susie tries not to let the smile slip when she flashes her yellow teeth once more. The shards did hurt a little..
With Noelle safely hidden within the confines of Susie’s bedroom, Susie quietly assesses the situation. She just stares off to the other side of the room, arms crossed bashfully…. awaiting demeaning remarks that never come. Noelle’s next move is always puzzling. If only she could read minds.
“You can have glass in the bed…?” The reindeer asks, curiosity sincere in her voice. Yep, puzzling as always.
“Yeah, I keep all my snacks here.” Susie proves it by taking a huge chomp out of a large shard of glass. Noelle starts to laugh, awkwardly flattening her mouth into an unsure smile when Susie does not follow suit. The lizard girl shrugs.
“Oh..!” Noelle giggles and kicks her legs together. Susie cannot identify the intent behind the laugh, so she forces another to be included if nothing else.
“....Wasn’t a joke.” Her smile remains, though. “I got chocolate donuts under the bed, too. Might be more your style. You can check the date but they shouldn’t be too expired..?”
Noelle is noticeably brushing over all these disgusting tidbits. “You can eat chocolate in the bed too? That’s bananas!”
“Duh, dude. I make the rules for bedtime snacks. I could eat you right now if I wanted.”
“Really?” Noelle leans so their faces meet nose-to-nose, and the other just blinks, gesture missing her entirely. She defeatedly moves on. “Well, I– I wouldn’t hear the end of it! I’m only allowed to eat at the dinner table,” Noelle, possibly caught up in the adrenaline of being in Susie’s room, flops onto her back and looks up at the other girl. Looks like she’s made herself at home, which would be a first for this particular bedroom. Susie peers down at her. Thankfully, she should look super cool and hulking from this angle. “...Careful ‘a the glass, some of it got in your hair.”
“That’s okay.. it makes me feel bad. I can totally do whatever I want here.” The smaller girl curls her hoof into a catlike gesture. “It looks good on me!”
Clearly, she’s just saying that. If Susie could pull any value from this situation, she would’ve done it by now, so Noelle is probably just trying not to embarrass her. Which is kind, but Susie’s not all that adept to addressing passive aggression. She’s more used to the blatant kind.
“Bad? PSHHHHT. Next to, like…” Susie pauses.. non-suspiciously. “...My… friend from the other school, maybe?” She taps Noelle’s cheek with her fist teasingly, prompting Noelle to press a hoof to her own mouth, clearly stifling a smile. “ – And that’s only ‘cause I haven’t taught him about internet piracy yet. Sides, they ain’t even scared of me in this apartment. Just when I’m outside.”
”Hey, no need to rush me, I just got here!” The girl sits up, brushing all the glass off her clothes and putting on a wicked smile — at least, about as wicked as an 120-pound girl with chipmunk cheeks can get. “There’s plenty more rooms I can sabotage with my raw evil power, destroying everything in my wake! Like, uhm.. your kitchen!” Her ear flicks. “Where is that?”
And now cue the onslaught of questions Susie hoped she could avoid, if possible. Naturally she pivots. “You need knives? I mean, I’ve got some of my own up here. Pre-bloodied too.”
”Hm?” Noelle raises a single finger and decidedly moves on, “I guess thanks for the offer! But like,” Finally, she grabs Susie by the shoulders and mutters the quiet part a little louder, through a flushed face and gritted teeth. “I’ll make it clearer, then. Can you just… let me see the rest of your house…? PLEASE?”
….A silent beat passes, and she clears her throat, awkward. “I don’t mean to impose, I mean.. what if I get hungry?”
”Hmm.” Susie runs through the question like it requires conscious thought.
“It’s like, under construction. All of it.”
Heh, just like Ralsei said. Susie now sees the irony.
”The… the whole apartment?” Noelle’s shaky smile persists. “Ohhh! That’s why you were.. eating chalk?” The conversation hangs in the air gracelessly, and Susie isn’t exactly renowned for her lying abilities.
She forgets to answer, eyes transfixed on the Godzilla poster on the wall, corners peeling and the rot of inactive mold peeking out of the corner. Noelle’s naive curiosity has Susie walled in on all fronts.
Damn, Susie’s first ‘dates’ with Noelle have been bleak. Noelle still thinks she dreamt their only good one.
“….If your parents are home, I can be uber quiet, ninja-style.. just trust me!” She leans in, lulling her voice down to a murmur, “I know a thing or two about sneaking around..”
”Yeah, well. That ain’t gonna happen here.” Dejected, the girl slumps down the wall and observes the scars littered across her fingers and hands, eager to look at anything but Noelle. “Look, we took the long way in for a reason. I’d just rather you stay in my room, that’s all.” Noelle leans in, interested and predictably non-judgmental. Susie feels like a fish out of water, not immediately catching flack for living the way that she lives. “You notice how it smells like shit in here? Yeah, my dad’s home, he’s drunk, ‘n I never actually have people over. Rockin’ around on this bed with an extra body in it’s already pushing it a little, the floorboards suck.”
The deer’s expression is.. unreadable. There’s a cryptic light that picks up in her eyes. “Would we get in trouble..?”
“I mean, I don’t get… grounded or nothing like that. It’s more like, if you want unwarranted comments on your outfit?” Susie carefully omits some details. “I don’t want you to get hurt, especially after all I did yesterday.”
”Hey, you shouldn’t be worrying about that stuff..! But, uhm, thank you for looking out for me.” Noelle’s hand has noticeably inched closer to Susie’s by this point, which she chooses not to acknowledge. A rare moment of Noelle being filterless then bests her. “Do you ever drink that stuff?”
GAG. Susie holds her arms out defensively. “FUCK no, dude! Don’t ask me stupid shit like that! There’s way cooler and cheaper ways to destroy my body, like. Licking the lead walls in my closet.”
”Sorry, sorry…! I was just.. curious.” Noelle frowns. “I always wondered what it tastes like.”
”If it’s anything like it smells, I ain’t touching it.” She pauses. “…Huh, I could also stab myself with this broken-ass bedframe. Wouldn’t be shocked if it caves in with both of us on the bed.”
Noelle does a little hop to test that theory, cautious. “I think.. your dad should get his lazy butt up and buy you a new one!”
”Yeah, wish all you want, he’s just gonna spend it on whiskey! Hahaha.” Not to mention, that would require stable employment on his part. Not everyone’s mom works at town hall.
Noelle speaks as if she heard Susie’s thoughts. Maybe she’s the mind reader here? “…Well, I think.. my mom should then. That’s usually how she apologizes! In.. um.. reparations.”
”Yeah, well.” It’s not as easy as Noelle might think. The smile on her face persists, and Susie’s confusion turns to full-on unease. Where’s the catch? The girls have sat in complete stillness for twenty minutes, just talking about nothing, about how utterly shit the state of Susie’s room is in. Yesterday morning feels like centuries ago, but Susie remembers it as clear as day.
Reminiscent of Noelle herself, her house is a sight for sore eyes. It’s huge, with a gentle breeze from a functioning A/C unit, and a television where she can watch anything she wants. Family photos embellish the room from wall to wall. When things get rough, at least she can return to her elaborate wall of memories — with Kris, with her family, with everyone. Noelle is sweet and kind, and clean, and she smells nice.
She could have so much more on this special day, and yet she just found herself… here, with Susie, who has not a dollar to her name, and nothing to gawk at but the beautiful sights of the popcorn ceiling.
“I just… wish I didn’t take you here, in the first place. I’m sorry. You’d probably be better off at home,” The girl picks at her claws, “At least you have your own computer, and like, functioning A/C and stuff. I dunno.”
…When Noelle doesn’t respond immediately, Susie continues with an averted gaze. “AND, you’re still gonna get in trouble, especially since you did it all for me. That’s a fuckin’ dick move on my part!” For a moment, her train of thought leads back to Kris. Perhaps.. this is why they’re not responding. Maybe, everyone finally got their head on straight, finally they’ve broken out of the collective delusion that Susie is worth a damn. “And Kris won’t even talk to me, so I can’t even go to.. and you might get school taken away next, and I won‘t even be able to —“
The pathetic monologue is ground to a halt as she’s met with a sensation comparable to getting shot in the head without warning. Rather than intercepting with her words, Noelle opted for.. grabbing her by the jaw, interlacing her fingers with her bottom row of teeth. There is no correct way to respond to this.
”Shhhhhhh.” The reindeer hushes, and Susie’s face scrunches up in utter bafflement — don’t fucking shush her mid-inner monologue? If that were anyone but Noelle their fingers would be gone in a matter of seconds. But it was Noelle, so now Susie’s confused. This could mean two things. One, that Noelle was just so sick of hearing her voice (usually the case). Two, she could also be… flirting? (Generally not the case.)
Susie’s already gotten her taste for blood after sixteen years of kicking ass and chomping through limbs, however, so Noelle is off the hook. She stares at Noelle, anxiously awaiting her next move. Susie is beginning to figure out that Noelle is a very, very confusing girl. She wonders if anyone else has picked up on that.
Then – in an alarming turn of events, Noelle carelessly tosses Susie by the jaw, back onto the bed. And if she wasn’t before, Susie is now officially lost, like.. completely out of her element. She’s not so big and hulking now that she’s the one laying in glass, huh?
“Heh, and I thought I was the neurotic one!” Noelle chirps, but little does she know, Susie doesn’t even know what that word means! “Keep acting like a total gloomer ‘n this might be our worst second date ever.”
….So it is a date? Susie blinks rapidly, her arms and legs awkwardly splayed about the bed.
“Oh, haha… What!” That must’ve been the wrong response, seeing as Noelle retaliated by plunging into Susie with all of her (very small amount of) body weight rather than actually clarifying. Noelle just laughs into the other’s chest, and an unfamiliar heat magic permeates every inch of Susie’s body. That’s.. well, Noelle probably isn’t gonna eat HER face off, right? “I guess.. I didn’t.. realize this was a date? Coulda.. fooled me..” Susie attempts to regain control over her voice, but it wavers gracelessly. “Your standards are.. really low. It’s confusing?” Let’s see, which alternate universe was Susie transported to this time?
“Why..? I’m happy.”
“....HOW. The bed sucks, it’s just a stupid twin and it can barely even fit me!” Now she just sounds frantic.
“Cause it’s with you, Susie, sheesh, just put a pin in it already!” Susie slumps dejectedly, so Noelle takes the metaphorical wheel with ease. “Just lay with me.”
Which Susie notes that they are already doing, by the way, she didn’t have much choice in the matter. The warmth triggers a signal in the lizard girl’s brain – that danger is imminent, and she should book it once she regains access to her legs. This doesn’t happen, this couldn’t happen, and this will be one of the grandest Holiday long cons if Susie can successfully write it off as yet another trick. Noelle’s always been a better performer than her, after all.
But.. Noelle shouldn’t be capable of much carnage, and she might get splinters if she sets foot on the floor, so..
And, she is very… warm. Who even needs central heating this way?
“This was all me, y’know. You didn’t force me to do anything.. I wanted to come here. I can make my own decisions too.” Noelle nuzzles closer, seems like she isn’t holding back anymore. In contrast, Susie refuses to move a single inch. “Because.. I don’t like being home very much, right? And… to.. get through it, I’d usually.. like..” She pauses, deep in thought. “Imagine.. pretty much.. exactly this..?”
“Hm.” Susie pauses. “Laying in broken glass in an eighty dollar bed?”
“Well, not necessarily that..!!!! It’s more like, um…” Noelle’s momentary overconfidence comes to a cease, the girl seemingly shrinking back into herself. Susie saw past your emotional walls, Noelle, don’t try to backtrack now. “Well, I wouldn’t let just anybody touch that guitar.”
“Dunno if I follow…?” Obviously, Susie does. If Noelle’s gonna beat around the bush with a guessing game, Susie’s just gonna return that energy.
“…Yes—“ Suddenly, Susie is stunned by the sudden whip of a pillow to the face, “You do! Why do I have to say it?” Noelle puffs out her cheeks and stares the taller girl down with shiny, brown, pleading eyes. Susie only blinks. “I just mean— I’ve thought about it! Being in your room.. because.. I wanted to be..”
Noelle grabs the pillow again, and Susie knowingly braces for impact, graciously providing another layer of protection to the pillow with a blanket. Noelle squeals loudly into the pile of bedding. Now…
If Susie had a script, it’s long crumpled up, shredded, and charred in the fiery depths of a Dragon Blazers 2 level. She has nothing now, no dignity. Only a cute girl in her room and no chance of escape for hours. Witty remarks won’t even save her now.. she simply looks Noelle up and down like she’d grown a third arm. And unfortunately, Noelle can read her like a book, even if she doesn’t know it.
”…You’re kinda scary when you don’t mean to be.. I uh— see why you were friends with Kris.” She gulps, eyes darting around the room in hopes of some kind of an exit. Great, Susie’s never had a girl in her room a day in her life, and now she needs to figure out how to act, fast. Susie has ZERO relationship experience, nothing. She’s never had friends, rarely ever crushes. Any interest in a classmate was responsibly shut down — it wasn’t worth the effort, logistically it wouldn’t happen, right?
The world of romance is beyond alien to her, yet another one of society’s luxuries she was never granted access to.
“Kris?” is all Noelle mumbles after a quick pause, looking confused, a little hurt. “Yeah that was, weird! I guess I.. misread this whole thing.”
”NO!” Susie clamps her mouth shut, eyes widened in horror. Couldn’t they have had this conversation somewhere else? “No, hang on, I screwed that up. I mean, you’ve always been nice.“ Susie’s breath hitches. This one time, she does need to choose her words carefully. Cautious not to misword herself, not to make Noelle feel unwanted. But how is the unwanted girl meant to figure out how to do that on her own?
“I just… don’t know what to say–” Noelle’s face, however, says it all, and Susie knows she isn’t hitting the right boxes. “It’s just… kind of surprising. Y’know the old… you Suz you lose, and all.”
Maybe if she digs in the old recesses of her mind, she can find the right words. Words she never thought she’d be allowed to say. They’ve long faded into dormancy, but they have to be there. If the Dark World business has taught her one thing, it’s that honesty can take you a long way. The instinct to lie no longer serves her. Noelle isn’t worth losing.
“I dunno what to say either..” An awkward hush falls over Susie and Noelle as they realize neither of them were ready to discuss this. There’s a sweet and clumsy intimacy to it.. just sitting an inch apart, powerless to stop the rest of the conversation. Susie laughs to herself a little. Couldn’t we focus on one thing at a time this week? Jeez. Noelle puts her head down. “You asked, so that was my answer. I guess, I mean, I don’t really mind that you’re scary. None of us knew anything about you!”
“....You’re weird,” is all Susie manages, voice atypically soft. She plucks at a loose spring jutting out of the broken mattress. Her mind entertains the idea of using it to stab herself in the eyes. Then she won’t have to see the look on Noelle’s face when she inevitably fumbles this chance of a lifetime. “...You shouldn’ta been shy, then. I had no clue.”
So she never minded her this whole time. It was always fine. They could’ve just… talked, no differently from Kris. Maybe, if Susie just spoke up sooner, she could’ve been one of their best friends, too. Just how much time has Susie wasted?
“NO ONE did!” Noelle defends, and Susie can’t bear to return the reindeer’s eyegaze, but she does hear the gentle clacking of her hooves, which then turn more frantic. She must be nervous, too. “I mean, sheesh, usually people assume me and BERDLY are a thing! Maybe you’re not the only one with more happening than what meets the eye.”
The mention of Berdly successfully clears the tension in the air. No way to stay serious knowing this world has Berdly in it. “I mean, YEAH? Dude’s a cornball ‘n you deserve better than that, but. He does make more sense for you. I dunno.”
“If I stopped highlighting his notes next week? You probably wouldn’t be saying that.”
Well, Susie can’t help but find that admittance of confidence attractive, it compels her to scoot a little closer. And, as hoped, a sincere smile returns to the other’s face. Noelle continues,
“I just.. I don’t wanna be bound to him because of it, right?” She pauses. “You.. make more sense to me.”
Perhaps the first time in Susie’s life she’s been told she ‘makes sense’. She scratches the back of her head. “You’re just sayin’ that.”
“Susie, you KNOW that my mom’s gonna kick my butt when I get home today. How much more deadly serious could I get, how can I make you believe me? I’ve never even done this!”
A familiar dread seethes deep within Susie. These situations, they don’t usually end well for her. “Man, I don’t know! Maybe cause I don’t have a functioning TV and I smell like shit!” Susie bites her lip, so hard it nearly draws blood. “Every school, every team sport, every community center, everywhere I’ve ever been, people just don’t like me! The trend is there. I accepted this already!”
Desperately, she tries not to jumble her words, but the risk of baring her whole soul to Noelle is even more threatening.
“YOU don’t make sense, Noelle. Your family.. they go on cruises and stuff. I just assumed —! No matter how I feel, like.. you’d have better options there.”
“...Well, maybe I wish it didn’t always go back to my family.” A light bulb blips in Susie’s brain. That actually.. made sense to her. “I mean, I’ve never even been over here – this part of town – in general! And I’ve lived here my whole life! Cause well, my mom says there’s criminals.” A pause, for dramatic effect. “And I know that can’t be true, cause we don’t even HAVE criminals!”
“Hey, never said we ain’t criminals. I’d guard your kidneys tonight if I were you.” She growls, and Noelle laughs, cutely, a couple snorts here and there. The smothering silence from earlier turns more forgiving, allowing Susie to finally relax and take a shot at saving her dignity. So she folds a leg over the other knee… coolly. “Maybe I should like, rob her? To prove her point. Then I’d have the money instead.” She ponders. “And then I could get you like.. a flaming skull, since you’re probably over the Santa toys.”
A hoofed hand clamps over Susie’s mouth — with the direction this conversation is heading, she can’t help but flinch at it. “SH! Not so loud.. if my mom hears you could get in trouble..!” With a knowing, daring smile, Noelle gestures to the “open” window with her antlers. Dumbass, you’re the one who made us come here! Susie can’t help but think, also with a smile. “But uhm — hey. You don’t have to worry about that money stuff, okay? Like.. I would totally stay in tonight if you asked me. It doesn’t really.. make a difference to me.”
“…No one’s ever really said that to me,” Susie states neutrally, unsure of how to handle this influx of information. All she really wants right now is to crack open Noelle’s brain.. and just dig for all these unspoken compliments she surely must have, rather than embarrassing herself asking for more. A terrifying giddiness creeps up her tummy.. maybe now she’s allowed to call that feeling butterflies?
Nah, not quite yet. She needs to sniff this out a little longer. So she carefully regains her closure, not letting a hint of that excitement show on her face. “I still don’t get it. No one’s ever.. thought of me like that, but,” she grins, “aye, I’m probably just slow. Did I mention that part too?”
Noelle skips over the joke, man, she’s annoying with that. “I think you get it.” Her shitfaced grin guides Susie’s attention to Noelle’s hand, which seems to be.. pointing.. at..
Susie screws her eyes shut, and slams her back against the wall. IT’S THE FUCKING TAIL AGAIN!!!!!
”God, fuck off!! I already told you not to look at that!! You’re such a pain in the ass!” Her plan not to show any excitement, foiled, now her face is bright red. She droops her head, hair draped over her sweaty face. “I j.. just.. don’t wanna sound like a total loser, but uhhh.. you kinda… got me in a corner.” It’s true, Noelle’s piercing stare bores deeper into Susie by the minute. It’s strange, she’s usually taking up the most space, and yet Noelle is making her feel.. impeccably small.
Maybe she has hypnosis magic? Maybe those spells exist in the light world, too.
“Don’t worry about that, either. I am… also being a loser,” Noelle hums delightfully, averting her gaze and finally breaking Susie free of that enthralling grip on her soul. A sneaky arm drapes around Susie’s neck, and then the other, and Susie is thoroughly shocked when she feels a snout burrowed in the crook of her neck, too. Noelle wasn’t brave enough to speak up before, but now she’s doing this?! Susie exhales and twiddles her thumbs. “It’s funny, Mom was gonna let me go to the festival… if I went with Kris.” Noelle pauses. “...And I thought about it, but instead, I came here. And now, I probably can’t go at all. See? I am being a loser.” She grins sincerely. “We might.. have more in common than you think. So that’s why I wanna get to know you better, Susie.”
In a feeble attempt to return the romantic gesture, Susie leans her head into the embrace. It bonks with Noelle’s antlers, which they both snicker at. “...Coulda been doing that at the festival instead,” she frowns. “Now you for real can’t go.”
“Well…” Noelle appears to pause before saying something brash, and thankfully goes for it. “Maybe we should.. try. I feel braver, now.”
Susie stretches out, inconspicuously dropping an arm on Noelle’s shoulder while she does so. “Maybe, Toriel will finally force Kris out, and we can all have fun. Maybe.. it’ll all be fine actually?”
“Maybe! We should try!” Noelle claps her hands together.
“Yeah! Let’s just! Hang here until we hear music outside.” Susie glances out the window cautiously. She is elated to see a cotton candy stand has now stationed itself RIGHT outside of her apartment. Susie’s no believer, but that is a good omen if she’s ever seen one.
“...Not that you have a choice, this bed might actually break if we move a single inch.”
“Faha, oh no, my only two options are ‘hanging out with Susie’ and ‘hanging out with Susie’. How will I ever choose?” Noelle teases, her face nearly burrowed in Susie’s tangled mess of hair. Is this really all her bedroom needed this whole time? A cute girl? If everyday can be exactly like this, who the hell needs a diploma, anyways?
What exactly is going through Noelle’s head right now, Susie wonders? Does it sound anything like Susie’s? She asks herself.
Nah, Noelle’s probably just thinking about the festival. After all, it’s just a stupid little date.